


Are Members of the LGBT+ Community Well Represented within the Arts?

by e_carnell



Category: No Fandom
Genre: Essays, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:34:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24877765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/e_carnell/pseuds/e_carnell
Summary: I need your help! Comment and give feedback on this work to help me pass my Gold Arts Course :)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 3





	Are Members of the LGBT+ Community Well Represented within the Arts?

**Author's Note:**

> Due to the Coronavirus my arts course had to be moved online. A crucial part of passing the exam is feedback and analysis and as you can imagine this has been extremely difficult. This is one of the pieces I need to share with you, the other is on my account.
> 
> I just want to know your thoughts! Negative, positive, anything! For pointers: how well is this work put together? Is it organised and well presented? Have I done my research? Is it effective/thorough? What do you think- how would you answer this question?
> 
> Thank you!

Are Members of the LGBT+ Community Well Represented within the Arts?

Approaching a question like this as a person who identifies with two letters in the LGBT+ acronym, as you can imagine, may be riddled with bias. However at the very beginning of forming this question, I thought that there were in fact a lot of well represented LGBT+ people within the arts world. Some would even say ‘enough.’ I was quick to realise that ‘arts’ spans a wide range of topics, and isn’t just what we see on TV and on social media. ‘Arts’ is defined as ‘ the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form… producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power,’ which spans a wide range of topics. In my research, I covered fine art, literature, television, music, dance, film and theatre that focused on modern day rather than past findings.

I made a mental note to avoid personal biases in my research process as gathering information from differing views was vital to my final judgement. In collecting secondary research, I scoured the internet for articles, events and facts that supported both ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ For primary research I conducted a questionnaire.

Article Findings

I found ten articles for yes there is enough LGBT+ representation in arts, and twelve for no there isn’t. On the yes side, I found that:

  * 10.2% of US television series contain LGBT+ characters, which is more than the number of LGBT+ people in the US
  * The evidence listed many influential LGBT+ people (fictional and real) but only focused on TV, graphic design and video games
  * Some LGBT+ people believed they were represented
  * A leading British TV boss made a statement that said there are enough gay people on TV, which was met with little reaction



On the no side:

  * 18.4% of 125 films surveyed contained an LGBT+ character, 83% of which was a gay man. Disney was found to be the worst representative of LGBT+ people.
  * Attacks on LGBT+ artists; scenes cut from films; books removed
  * Still a lot of complaints from LGBT+ representation: after British dance show Strictly Come Dancing aired it’s first same sex dance, the show was met with 200 complaints
  * Lack of effective, complex LGBT+ characters written by LGBT+ people



Findings by Genre

**Literature:** in general a well represented community, that only lacks in LGBT+ side characters for non-aimed LGBT+ literature. Poetry however, was a dire area lacking in both authors and characters. It’s an extremely little known and repressed fact that half of Shakespeare’s sonnets were addressed to a man.

**Fine art (painting, drawing, architecture, graphics):** much needed room for improvement. Although artists could scarcely be found, the issue lies deep in repression of sexuality in the history of artists.

**Television:** the most represented area of the arts. Countless complex and detailed characters could be named. If work needs to be done, it’s hiring more LGBT+ actors and writers.

**Music:** another well represented area of the arts, however like fine art (if not more so) issues lie deep in repression and mainly online abuse, in particular the likes of Elton John, Sam Smith and Lil Nas X. Bi and trans erasure was found to be a large problem here.

**Film:** major room for improvement in both characters and writers, however progress is definitely happening.

**Theatre:** a hugely represented group, but work needs to be done on stereotyping. 

The above findings are based on entirely personal research.

Questionnaire Findings

All findings are out of 70 people, 28 of which were LGBT+

  * Half believed that there was a medium amount of representation for LGBT+ people in the arts sector. 16 believed not enough, and 15 thought a fair amount.
  * Over half couldn’t name an LGBT+ dancer, artist or writer
  * Most people could name an LGBT+ person in a film or show, but 15% couldn’t
  * Out of 28 LGBT+ people, none found that they were fully represented in the arts or media. 12 thought not enough and 11 found a mediocre amount.
  * When asked if there could be ‘too much’ representation, 63/70 said no/unsure. Only 7 said yes/probably.



Overall

Based on predominantly article and questionnaire findings, it is my judgement that LGBT+ people are not well represented within the arts. This is because my research has taught me that the arts world is a very diverse medium that encompasses many different forms, as well as the opinions of LGBT+ people themselves. If the question had been aimed at television or literature specifically, I would have definitely agreed, but the arts are not restricted to these mediums. It can be seen that notable areas for improvement are especially in the dance, poetry and fine art communities. Many issues seem to have stemmed from a previous repression and ridicule of the community, as well as bias towards stereotype. 

More representation for LGBT+ people in the arts sector needs to begin with the employment of more LGBT+ artists which can then be integrated into their art forms. LGBT+ characters in particular should preferably be written/depicted by LGBT+ employees to aid accuracy, complexity and to avoid stereotypes. 


End file.
